As the country enters third phase of lockdown to tackle coronavirus disease, this morning I received a WhatsApp message containing a newspaper clip that proclaimed Neem: Corona ko harane ka sabse bada astra (Neem: The mightiest weapon to defeat corona). That took me about two months back, when a labourer from Sultanpur district proclaimed at the locality’s grocery shop that corona would not be able to reach the villages as they had plenty of neem trees.

Despite all the efforts to create awareness about the deadly disease, superstition abound. In rural areas of Saharanpur, one of the most affected districts of Uttar Pradesh, it transpired in rural areas that if earthen lamps were lit on the main door of home for five evenings, all the residents will be safe from corona. This had nothing to do with the Prime Minister’s exhortation to light lamps or candles in solidarity with corona warriors.

Some days later another preventive measure came out in the same villages. This time it was to tie camphor on the arms of children, so they could remain safe from corona.

In Ambedkar Nagar district, rumour spread fast in the initial stage of the lockdown to offer water to Goddess Durga on Fridays. Many villagers complied. But the trend died soon, thanks to massive awareness drives launched by the government and non-governmental organisations.

Far away from Ambedkar Nagar, in Banda district villagers heavily relied on witchcraft to keep them safe from corona. In many villages the residents worshipped village deities like Bhairam Baba and Kali Devi (not to be confused with Goddess Kali of West Bengal and other parts of the country) to keep corona off their villagers. In many villages people tied coconut in red or black cloth and hung them from the frame of main door with the hope that this would not allow corona to enter their homes.

It is not that such practices are prevailing in Uttar Pradesh only – they prevail in other States also. Some more anecdotes are available at https://vssmp.org/publications/hindi-publications/88-corona-aur-afvahein. Whatever be the crisis, we come out with our novel ways to beat it. After all we are the country where we take pride in hanging lemon and green chillies from inside the windshield of the car to protect it from evil eye, rather than relying on insurance.